Have we reached Peak Curtains? IKEA's head of sustainability thinks so.

For years we went on about peak oil, peak copper, peak everything. Now of course, we are swimming in oil and the prices of many commodities have fallen through the floor. But according to IKEA's head of sustainability, Steve Howard, much of the world already has too much of what his company is trying to sell. According to the Guardian,

“If we look on a global basis, in the west we have probably hit peak stuff. We talk about peak oil. I’d say we’ve hit peak red meat, peak sugar, peak stuff … peak home furnishings,” Steve Howard said at a Guardian Sustainable Business debate. He said the new state of affairs could be called “peak curtains”.

Howard describes how IKEA is trying to be more sustainable: "We will be increasingly building a circular Ikea where you can repair and recycle products." Bravo for that. He also reminds me of William Gibson's great line, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed." Apparently one can say the same thing about curtains and Billy bookcases.

If you look on a global basis, most people are still poor and most people actually haven’t got to sufficiency yet. There is a global growth opportunity ... but it’s a distribution issue.